Game Notes
— Nice to see the Angels jump out and get the early lead. It is clear that the Halo pitchers are better with a lead and don’t feel the pressure of having to be perfect from the outset. Bobby Abreu continues to hit (which is good, because I think we all agree he should not be anywhere near the outfield with a glove on his hand.) and the two runs in the first allowed Weaver to relax and pitch.
— Here is one reason I hate watching Yankee games. They take too freaking long. Does every Yankee hitter have to get a full count? Is Jeter paid by the pitch? I was keeping tabs on the game on my iphone at work and when I saw Weaver had 90+ pitches after 5 innings I was convinced they Angels would blow it when they had to go to middle relief.
— It’s a good sign that both Scott Downs and Jordan Walden pitched well. Like it or not, the Angels blueprint for success this year has to be strong starting pitching, enough hitting to scratch out 3 runs and a solid back end of the bullpen. Walden in particular looked very sharp last night and one hopes he is starting to feel more comfortable as the closer.
— Am I the only one who is over the whole throwback uniform thing? There is usually a reason teams adopt new uniforms and last night’s halo hats are example #1 of why newer is always better.
Halo Hero
Who else should get the nod than THE WEAVE? He shut down the Yankees without his best stuff and saved us all from Fraudney screwing up a perfectly nice Angel victory. Special mention to Jeff Mathis, who for all the crap we give him, called a great game. He was aware early on what was working and seemed to always call the righ pitch at the right time. It’s a sad day when I have nothing snarky to say about Jeffy.